Breathing - Doctor Who AU - Tenth Doctor
by OliviaK94
Summary: When a mysterious Time Lord from Alexandria's future rescues her and offers her the universe, she jumps at the chance to run away with him before her time runs out. But the Doctor dies shortly after she meets him. Now, Alexandria waits for the strapping, young Doctor to meet her. And what has the Doctor so wracked with guilt? What has he done to make Lexi so important?
1. Chapter 1

When a mysterious Time Lord from Alexandria's future rescues her and offers her the universe, she jumps at the chance to run away with him before her time runs out. But what happens when they never meet in the right order? And when one knows more than the other? Will this lead to love or mistrust?

 **A/N:** Hello, this is my first ever published FanFiction! I'm a major Whovian with an obsession with the Tenth Doctor. This story is entirely my own with inspiration from the show. It came to me when wondering how the Doctor would react to being locked into a timeline that threatened his very existence; to have adventures with the one he loves only to lose her in the end, or risk changing his own past to save her. Also, the non-canon fictional character Alexandria is the reason for much of the Tenth Doctor's humanity in my stories. I try to stay away from altering the actual show, but I'm making no promises.

I've nearly finished the 2nd chapter, but I wanted to post this first one as soon as possible, just to get it out there. I'll post the second one tomorrow. I'll try to get a rhythm down in the next few weeks to update the story weekly. I'm thinking this story will span at least 20 chapters, if not more.

Enjoy! Review if you'd like! And definitely favourite it if you liked it, and follow the story for notifications on when I update!

ALLON-SY!

 **Breathing**

CH. 1

Alexandria plastered on a fake smile as she walked out of the office. She had never let her disorder effect her so much; suppressing her emotions so harshly and so deeply for so long they now threatened to burst out at the seams.

As much as Alexandria was boiling inside, she had to control her heart rate that much more.

Although it was a typically cold and rainy day in London, Alexandria began to sweat through her white winter p-coat as she approached her car.

The lifts were broken in the parking garage. She could either walk back into the hospital and use another elevator, or walk up to her car from the stairs in the garage. She decided to take it slow and walk up.

Alexandria cursed her waining heart for failing her so suddenly. It wasn't long ago that these stairs would have been a welcoming challenge that she would have had the confidence to conquer. Now, these three flights of stairs threatened to overwhelm her. Not because of the length of them or even their vastness, but the fear of what could happen on the journey to her car.

Alexandria had WPW; Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. The name doesn't matter, really. The upshot is that there was an extra electrical pathway in her heart leading to periods of tachycardia. She had a handle over the disorder in her teens; never playing sports, never drinking or partying, always playing by the rules. WPW is usually considered a childhood disease, but seeing as Alexandria was steadily approaching her thirties and still having attacks, she had to get it checked out. Which is what brought her to the hospital that day; the day she meet the Doctor. Not just any doctor, but _the_ Doctor. 

Her fear and anxiety about being alone in the stairwell brought her ascent to a crawl. At about the halfway point she felt a strong affinity for the steps in front of her as they grew closer. She reached a hand out in front of her as the world became blurry. Things calmed down once she sat down; knees close to her chest.

Alexandria breathed in and out slowly and deeply. A headache brewing in the back of her head. She dreaded getting up.

Deep in her own turmoils, she didn't notice two white figures standing in front of her. She jumped a little took quickly at the sight of them. Both were incredibly tall and wearing scrubs, lab coats, masks, and surgical caps.

Alexandria stood up saying, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there. Don't mind me."

As Alexandria stood, she automatically felt something drag her back down. A shock went through her at the entry point in her neck of a needle. Before she could feel the crack of the cement stairs on her skull, the two figures dressed as doctors caught her under her arms. She was unconscious before she even landed in their grasps.

The headache Alexandria had before was a minor tickle compared to the piercing thunder in her head when she woke up.

She tried to lift a hand to her head to somehow sooth it, but something stopped her. Craining her sore neck downwards, she saw brown restraints keeping her holstered to a flat wall. Similar cuffs pinned her ankles as well.

 _This has got to be some twisted dream_ , she thought to herself.

She chuckled softly to herself then winced at the movement.

Alexandria looked up at the blinding lights that increased her headache tenfold. She tried to focus on the figures just beyond the lights. She remembered them from earlier as the ones who drugged her.

She took that time to look around the room while her nappers were busy. From beyond the the blinding construction lights she saw a large round machine; an MRI machine. She had been in plenty of them before to know just what they looked like. Alexandria deduced she was still in the hospital, but an abandoned part of it since the machine was not active and no one noticed her being taken by these large figures.

"Hey," Alexandria yelled.

She screwed her face up in pain at the loud noise.

"What's going on here? Let me go!" she yelled again; breathing deeper to control the pain.

"Oh, we will," said a deep voice. "As soon as you tell us where the Doctor is."

"We're in a hospital. You've got to be more specific," Alexandria replied.

 _Now is not the time to be joking with your kidnapper, Alex_ , she scolded herself.

More figures dressed as doctors came out from behind the lights. All of them were at least seven foot tall, if not taller. Alexandria gaped open mouthed at them and their green scaly skin. They were built like men, but their faces stretched behind their heads to form a sort of hard crest with one larger spike on the tops of their heads. The creature at the forefront of the group of five had noticeable orange-brown scales in streaks around his head; making his features look sharper and stronger than the rest.

Alexandria shut yer mouth and shifted in her skin.

"Your Doctor," said the leader. "We need _your_ Doctor _."_

"My doctor?" she asked blankly. "I have many. Who do you mean, exactly?"

"You know different incarnations?" mused the lead creature. "Interesting."

Before Alexandria could tell the things she didn't know who they were talking about, a stalkier figure thrusted himself passed his leader at her.

"We want the one who destroyed our planet!" the creature hissed at Alexandria.

The leader stuck an arm out to stop the bulky man from getting to her.

"We haven't gotten what we want out of her yet," said the leader strongly; somehow growing in size at his words to his underling.

"What do you want? I don't know who you're talking about," Alexandria said shakily against the restraints.

The leader shoved The threatening man back in line then came even closer to Alexandria than before.

"I shall ask only once more," warned the tall man. "Where is the Doctor? We have come to surface at just the right time. Wherever the Doctor is, so is Alexandria. You don't get one without the other. Everyone knows that."

The words flowed out of the creature with such confidence it scared her to death. She didn't know a doctor. Or at least this man they called the Doctor.

"You must have the wrong girl," she stuttered. " I don't know this person."

Against her will, tears welled in her eyes as the leader pulled a rogue scalpel out of his lab coat.

"Please," she stammered. "Please. I swear, I don't know what this Doctor person did, but I promise you, I don't... I don't know who... I've never met this person! Please, let me go!"

Alexandria pleaded as she yanked against the restraints; back pounding the wall, wrists tearing in their vices. She was more afraid that her own body would turn against her rather than the frightening creatures towering over her. By being trapped there, she would have no way of getting to her medicine if her body decided to attack itself. And with all this stress she wouldn't blame her body for reacting so boldly.

"Please! I don't know anything!" she whimpered. "Please, just let me..."

Alexandria's plea was stopped short by her screams as the lead creature made a harsh laceration in her right bicep. She hissed before she could plead with her capturers again as he slashed a deeper cut in her clavicle.

"Stop!" said a serious voice in a doorway that Alexandria hadn't noticed before. "She won't tell you anything."

 _More like, I don't_ _ **know**_ _anything_ , Alexandria thought to herself.

The Doctor stood over six foot tall usually. However, the radiation pulsing through him made him hunch slightly. He had to use the wall to steady himself. His caramel brown hair that stood on edge at all different angles added another few inches. He glided his long fingers over the white walls in the direction of the main entrance and away from where he had parked his TARDIS in an abandoned part of the hospital. He was luckily only several feet outside of his ship when he heard a threatening hiss coming from close behind.

"We want the one who destroyed our planet!" demanded the green alien.

The Doctor stopped short at the door once he saw her tied up. All of time and space fell away around him at the sight of her; his Lexi.

The overwhelmingly bright lights emanating from the room before the Doctor made him practically invisible in the doorway. He was able to take a few moments to appreciate her.

His breath caught in his throat. Lexi stood just out of reach. He could've cried for days at the sight of her there; looking so young and healthy. Her hair laid in perfect ringlets on her shoulders in a warm brown; not unlike his own colour. Her cheeks were so warm and full of life. Her lips were tender; eyes sparkling emerald green in the light, and her body so fit and petite. Instead, he let one solitary tear fall.

Alexandria didn't have her ring on, so the Doctor knew this was the right time. He had tried to find her later on, but knew that he had to comply with the rules of time just this once. He had to come _here,_ to this exact time _,_ because he had already done it; because his Lexi told him so, just before...

The Doctor was so distracted by Alexandria's beauty, and pure existence, he had forgotten he was supposed to be rescuing her.

"Please, let me..." Alexandria started to plead when the leader of the pack sliced her soft skin.

The Doctor didn't make himself known quick enough because the alien slashed her clavicle next without hesitation.

"Stop!" the Doctor demanded furiously; an undercurrent of a growl beginning in his throat.

He reigned in his emotions like a bipolar switching personas.

"She won't tell you anything," he said nonchalantly.

The Doctor sauntered in past the lights so he could be seen by everyone.

Alexandria took note of the tall man; well, tall compared to her. Against the green creatures he was puny. He wore a dark brown pin-striped suit, a light blue collared shirt, and a matching coloured tie. Forgetting she was kidnapped and currently being tortured, Alexandria took a second to admire the slender saviour.

The Doctor's hearts skipped two beats as he stood mere inches away from her.

"Lexi," he breathed softly.

 _Dammit_ , he cursed himself for letting her nickname slip.

Alexandria furrowed her brow at this mans words.

How could he know her name? Her nickname at that. Connections fired into place in Alexandria's mind.

 _This must be the Doctor everyone keeps talking about._

"Doctor," roared the bulky man from before.

The leader stared daggers at the overzealous soldier. He stood in rank; fighting the urge to pounce on the newcomer.

"Hello," said the Doctor, waving tightly with a manic grin. "Before we get started, can we turn these lights down? There's no need for the dramatics."

The Doctor pulled a long metal object out of his suit pocket; his sonic screwdriver. He pushed a button and the back lights dimmed drastically.

"That's better," the Doctor said patronizingly; pocketing the device.

"So, what seems to be the matter here?" the Doctor asked the room.

The room was still plenty bright enough to see everyone in it. Alexandria could see the other two green creatures that had looked much blurrier in the bright lights.

"You destroyed our planet," hissed the leader this time; playing along with the pretense of his soldiers.

"Who are you?" asked the Doctor.

"Silurian," stated the leader.

"That's not possible," replied the Doctor skeptically. "There was only one homo-reptilia ship that fled the Earth at the time of the projected catastrophe; the Silurian Ark. and that was never found."

"There was a secret military ship that left Earth at the same time," the commanding Silurian informed the Doctor. "Our ancestors assumed the other ship perished somehow because they had to repopulate our planet by themselves."

"Oh!" exclaimed the Doctor. "That explains the height! And why I didn't recognize you." He began pacing around the rows of soldiers. "Last time I saw you lot must have been the originals."

"We shall regroup with our ancestors once we've killed _you_ ," the Silurian soldier declared.

The soldiers shifted their scaly hands to the futuristic-looking guns hanging around their necks. The commanding officer stood behind his soldiers. He was easily a foot taller than them.

"Hey, now. Come on," stammered the Doctor; throwing his hands up in mock surrender. "I'm sure we can talk this out. How do you know I'm even the one you're looking for? I could be any doctor. I've never even met your breed of Silurian before; didn't even know you existed." The Doctor had made his way back to Alexandria. "That's a first. I like not knowing, makes things interesting."

Although the Silurians had backed the Doctor into the same wall that Alexandria was still attached to, he had regained his confidence.

"You are _the_ Doctor, aren't you?" asked the commander who still stood behind his soldiers. "The one who ended the Last Great Time War?"

The Doctor guessed the Silurian's words were meant to antagonize him. However, the Doctor understood the second they mentioned the Time War who these creatures were and how they got here and why they held him solely responsible.

The Doctor chose his next words very carefully. This was the only attempt he would have at a good first impression on Alexandria. He was named the Doctor for a reason; to save and comfort and heal. He had to heed Lexi's words and be the Doctor first and foremost.

"I'm sorry," said the Doctor fervently. "I'm so sorry."

The Doctor was determined not to start another war in this very room.

Jumping right to the chase, the Doctor added, "Let me help you."

"We don't need your help," snapped the bulkier Silurian soldier.

"We want you dead," interjected another soldier who had pulled his gun on the Doctor.

The rest of the soldiers followed suit. The Doctor noticed the commanding officer hadn't even touched his weapon in all the time since the Doctor walked in.

"I understand that," the Doctor said slowly. "But please, indulge a dying mans last wish."

The Doctor shivered internally at the double meaning of his words.

Once he knew they weren't going to open fire, the Doctor continued.

"Let me help you. It's the least I can do for what I've done," the Doctor told them. "Killing me won't bring your planet or your families back. Let me find you a new home. One where the gravitational force is like your home planets'. The weight of this planet will crush you."

"We're fine," hissed the second Silurian soldier.

The Doctor looked over at the elder Silurian who had been listening to him intently and without even a hint of vengeance. He knew straight away what the commanding Silurian had in mind this whole time; perhaps even before they had found him.

"How long have you been here?" asked the Doctor.

"We arrived on this continent five-hundred years ago and have been in our stasis chambers ever since," informed the lead Silurian.

"Well," said the Doctor, elongating the word. "Makes sense," he said more to himself. "You wouldn't have lasted nearly that long if it hadn't been for your stasis chambers."

"The hospital was built over our ship," the commander continued. "It was supposed to wake us once our ship coincided with you. With all of the cement, the tracker had a shorter range for finding you."

"So," the Doctor started. "What woke you up?"

The commanding officer turned his tall frame towards Alexandria.

Alexandria had stayed so quiet for so long even _she_ forgot she was in the room and not just a fly on the wall. Her arms and legs had gone numb ages ago. She felt almost invisible until then.

"Her," the Silurian said obviously.

Alexandria perked up as all the eyes in the room stared at her. At the slight movement, she winced at the pins and needles crawling under her skin. The Doctor saw this. He knew that look on his Lexi all too well, but couldn't comfort her like he usually did just then.

"Me?" Alexandria said very softly.

The Doctor had been suppressing the pain burning inside him for so long he couldn't tell if it was hearing Lexi's voice again that made him almost want to cry or the bubbling, boiling fever raging just beneath his skin. His Lexi would have noticed his discomfort by now, but she wasn't there. He breathed in incredibly deep with his high lung capacity and expelled it slowly. Then he remembered he had to be strong enough to save her if she was going to have a future with him. Being able to control his body temperature came in handy just then.

Barely a second had passed when Alexandria spoke again.

"What could I have possibly done?" she stammered.

 _Oh, the things you'll do..._ thought __the __Doctor fondly.

The Doctor grinned softly to himself.

"The tracker must have picked up on someone who has traveled _with_ the Doctor instead of the Doctor himself," the commander told her.

"Not quite yet..." trailed the Doctor. "It might be the right time for me, but too early for her. She has no idea who I am yet."

This broke the Doctor's hearts, but it was hard to place blame when he knew this day was coming with this version of his Lexi.

"Oh my," gasped the elderly Silurian.

The Silurian commander knew what this meant. He had toyed with the very fabric of reality. He was more of a scholar than a military man. He was only given the title of commanding officer due to him being the oldest Silurian left to survive after their planet was destroyed in the Last Great Time War. He had studied the Doctor and his companions. He knew all of the notable ones; Rose, River, Amy, and Clara, even Susan and Sarah Jane. But there was one companion that played a bigger part in the Doctor's life than all rest. She didn't stay long, but that's what made her so special. She was the only one the Doctor would have stayed forever with, but she _couldn't_. Alexandria Anderson would be one of the shortest lived companions to the Doctor, but the _most_ important.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Was up till midnight last night transcribing this chapter from paper to my iPad! Anyways, here it is! This chapter is part of an extra long chapter I wrote last night so I've split it up into two, but it ties up Alexandria's first encounter with the Doctor.

 **Disclaimer:** I used some dialogue from the show that I thought suited this chapter well. I DO NOT OWN DOCTOR WHO. ALL RIGHTS TO THE BBC.

CH. 2

 _I never meant to mess with such fragile timelines. I just wanted to get off this planet_ , thought the commanding Silurian.

Not wanting to disrupt time anymore than he had, the elder Silurian decided to activate his secret plan to leave.

"We've been out of our chambers for a few hours, but we won't last much longer," urged the commander. "Can you give us a lift, please?"

"What?!" burst the bulkier Silurian soldier. "Leave? With him?"

The soldier in question still had his gun fixed onto the Doctor and waved it about when addressing him.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd put your guns down, please," said the Doctor. "Puts a man on edge when he's trying to save the day."

The Doctor smiled coyly. Alexandria noticed. The Doctor saw her notice.

 _Lexi always noticed._

"Quite right, too," commanded the elder. "Lower your weapons, boys."

"No!" shouted the soldier.

The soldier turned on his commander; weapon pointed at his head. His peers shifted their guns to stay on the Doctor.

"How dare you yell at your commanding officer," retorted the taller Silurian.

"You are _not_ my commander," the lead soldier spat out. "My... Our," he corrected. "Our commander perished on the front lines of _his_ war."

The soldier taking charge pointed his gun at the Doctor.

"Don't forget," continued the soldier; now facing the Doctor, but looking back at the elder. "On our planet, you were an outcast. We were a military planet. Have been since our ancestors left this rock. You had never seen a weapon until I thrusted one into your unmarked hands five-hundred years ago. We had no need for scholars then, and we don't want one now."

"We came here for revenge," said one of the soldiers facing the former commander.

"We came here to be rescued," corrected the elder Silurian.

"You tricked us!" boomed the lead soldier; now leading the pack and standing weapon first in front of the demoted commander.

"I did not." The old Silurian grew in confidence. "You just don't use whatever brains you have left in that thick skull of yours. Like you said, our home was a military planet; always fighting, always destroying, always death and never anything new."

"We fought in the Last Great Time War," stated the lead Silurian soldier. "That brought us honour!"

"That brought us nothing but death!" demanded the elder. The lead soldier yanked him to his knees at his outrageous remark. The elder stood at about the Doctor's height on his knees. "Are you that blinded by war? We only ever fought ourselves. The Silurians played such an insignificant part in the Time War. We weren't even a blip on their radar. One side fighting _for_ the Time War, and the other fighting against, but both fighting _each other_ nonetheless. The Last Great Time War spanned so many generations on our planet we forgot why we were fighting in the first place. The Doctor did us a service. He did what he had to do, not out of cruelty or cowardess, but to save the trillions of lives that would have suffered at the hands of the Time War. Our planet hadn't ever prospered. From the first day to the last there was nothing but war. All our resources went into fighting. Nothing went to the sciences or arts or a government of any kind. Each generation barely survived their predecessors because we all lived in poverty. Because that's what you get! When there's nothing but war, you get nothing good in return; no exploration, no prosperity, no hope. After millions of years on our new home, we had never stepped foot off our planet. Didn't you ever stop and wonder how we could have a spaceship if there was never any type of other space exploration? I mean, didn't you find it odd that we only had one spaceship that could fly all the way to Earth but no one had ever stepped foot in our own moon?"

The room went quiet.

"It's the original spaceship our ancestors arrived in. It was set for Earth all those millennia ago, so that's where it brought us. Not to kill the Doctor, but to bring us home."

The lead Silurian soldier smacked the elder across the face with his gun. The elder caught himself on his hands; creating a rumble throughout the room when he landed with his immense stature.

"Enough with the history lesson," he ordered.

"This is exactly what I was talking about." The injured Silurian spoke out of the side of his mouth. "Nothing but a bunch of fear mongering militants. _This_ is why the Doctor can save us from yourselves if you'd just _listen_!"

"You're forgetting he destroyed our home," said the new leader menacingly.

"And rightly so," contoured the older Silurian; straightening up and cricking his neck. "He destroyed his own planet as well. His own people. That's a man with immense power. A power to save or to harm. And he chose to save. He stopped the suffering of so many worlds. And unintentionally, he even saved our retched breed of species before we did anymore damage."

"Save?!" yelled the leader; fuming in his bones.

"Yes!" retorted the elder, who didn't look so old anymore as his confidence grew. "Save! The Doctor; known as healer and wiseman throughout the universe. If you'd _listen_ , you'll know that us five have been given a gift by landing on this planet. Anyone with a brain cell knows that the Doctor would do anything for his beloved humans. So don't you see? We are their ancestors, their relatives. Of course he'd want to save us. If anything, he'd want to get us as far away as possible from them, for their sakes."

A break in the moment let the Doctor ask, "How do you know all of this?"

"In the chaos of the Time War," the elder Silurian started a little calmer now, "no one noticed a few off-worlders coming and going every once in a while. They brought culture and technology and information. This was only in the last few decades of our planets survival. We were too far gone for anything or any _one_ to save us. My parents were one of the only professors on the entire planet. If you could even call them professors. There hadn't _ever_ been a school established, except for training camps. I was small when I stole a peek at their ebooks. I learnt everything there was to know about science and mathematics and machinery. I always knew Earth was where I'd find you, because I had read about you as a child. So when I realized our ancestors ship would take us directly _to_ you, I had to get on that flight. Our off-world friends told us that the end was near in the last few days of the Time War. In those final days I rigged the ship to receive broadcasts from all over the galaxy; the Milky Way to be exact. It was perfect though, because as I continued to learn more from the ebooks I had downloaded before leaving, I received news every day from every corner of the galaxy. And being right beneath the planet you've saved so many times Doctor, gave me a direct line to all of your victories."

The Doctor took the silence to try to capture the elders words. A mix of relief at not being threatened anymore, astonishment at learning about this new world, and a terrifying sense of pride washed over him all at once.

"In any of your books, did they mention that the Doctor was the one who obliterated our planet in the destruction of his own?" asked the leader angrily.

"I had read about you as a child, and heard what you had done after the Time War, and what you did in between was just as heroic as any other time you saved the universe, Doctor. You were the Doctor before the war and the Doctor after. And you were the Doctor on the day it wasn't possible to get it right. Because that's what you do; save entire civilizations with companions by your side, and your Lexi."

The Doctor was honored to be painted in such a glowing light, especially in front of Alexandria. The Doctor would have certainly saved this man, and with a cautious hand, these soldiers; until...

An unwarranted shot rang out in the small room. The Doctor and Alexandria winced sharply at the noise.

"Nooo!" screamed the Doctor; dragging out the syllable. "Why would you do that? He was your commander. He was trying to save you from yourselves!"

The last of the Time Lords words came out in a thunderous rage.

"He was a liar and a traitor," said the lead soldier who had moved his weapon back towards the Doctor. "Commander or not, that's punishable by..."

"Murder?!" interrupted the Doctor.

With that one word, the whole room fell silent.


	3. Chapter 3a

**CH. 3**

The room ran as more of a military base with the elderly Silurian dead and crammed into a corner. His large frame twisted in frightening ways with no sense of mercy about it.

The Doctor had been tied to a chair near Alexandria.

 _Guess they thought they'd only have one prisoner,_ thought the Doctor.

He was grateful to be sat down at the least. Despite the regeneration energy healing him, the radiation was faster. His insides were pooling with blood, his head growing heavier by the second; the urge to pass out on the edge of his brain. He had to regenerate soon or he would die. He gathered the strength to look over at his Lexi; Alexandria, and reminisced about her first adventure with him. And then he thought back farther to his first adventure with her.

 _Oh, the adventures they'll have..._

He had to save her first, so he reigned in his emotions and fiddled with his internal bodily functions before addressing the soldiers.

"Look, despite all of your misguided mistakes," began the Doctor. "I'm stilling willing to help you."

Alexandria had listened to the tales of the Doctor spoken by the former commander with such awe and wonder, and was happy to be met with the real thing at the Doctor's last words. He was still offering his help to these savages; after all they'd done.

"That hack might of thought you a god," said the new leader who had just finished holstering the dead Silurians weapon to himself; claiming both as his own. "But all we know you as is the destroyer of our planet. Plus, all we need is your ship."

"She won't fly for you," the Doctor scoffed. "She won't even let you in the front doors."

"Ships aren't animated," said the lead Silurian. "They're machines."

"I'm telling you, she won't fly for anyone but me and..." the Doctor trailed off.

The Doctor tried not to draw any attention to Alexandria, but it was so hard not to when he was also trying to soak up every glance he could get of her before...

"This one can fly it," perked the former soldier, "can't she?"

He pointed his first gun at Alexandria.

"No," squeaked Alexandria.

"Really," urged the Doctor. "She can't! If you'd listened to your commander..."

"He was not our commander!" snapped one of the lackeys.

The leader stood his ground beside Alexandria; taking no notice of the soldier.

"If you'd listened to him," continued the Doctor with the same fierceness as before. "You'd know that Alexandria has never met me before, or the TARDIS. She can't help you, but _I_ can."

"As the scholar told us, you two are apparently legendary," confronted the leader. "We can 'kill two birds with one stone' as our primitive cousins would say; kill _you_ ," he pointed his gun at the Doctor, " _and_ get off with your ship."

The leader had strolled closer to the Doctor. He raised his weapon to the Doctor's head; almost pressing the guns tip to his forehead.

"Please," the Doctor said a little more pleadingly. "Just listen. The TARDIS won't fly for you if she know's Lexi is in danger. Please, I'm telling you, I can save you."

Alexandria made a calculated decision in a split second. Based on all she had heard from the dead Silurian about this incredible man sitting in front of her, and witnessing such kindness from him after being faced with such hostility, _and_ just barely wrapping her mind around the overwhelming conclusion that she herself was so important to this stranger, she decided to take a leap of faith.

"Kill _me_ ," Alexandria piped up.


	4. Chapter 3b

**A/N:** Apparently, I had written too much and it wouldn't fit in the text box. So here's chapter 3 continued. Here's the second part I worked on last night; the Doctor's last meeting with Lexi and Alexandria's first.

 **Disclaimer:** I used some dialogue from the show that I thought worked well here. I DO NOT OWN DOCTOR WHO. ALL RIGHTS TO THE BBC.

 **CH. 3.2**

All heads turned on her; the Doctor's snapping the quickest to look at her.

"What?" the Doctor asked incredulously; tensing vigorously in his bindings.

"Kill me," she repeated, slightly towards the Doctor but mostly to the soldiers. "You want to hurt this man, don't you? To have him feel the pain you felt when losing your planet? Well, from what I've gathered, I'm somehow important to the Doctor. If the suffering of losing his own planet, his own people, isn't enough for you, then kill me."

"Don't. You. Dare." The words ripping through the Doctor's teeth before any of the soldiers even moved.

"Doctor," Alexandria said to him directly, as if she knew him already. "I don't know how to fly your ship, or what it even looks like. You are apparently the saviour of entire galaxies, while I'm nothing. You can do so much more."

 _Not without you_ , he wanted to say.

All of the soldiers flanked the leader as he moved weapon first towards Alexandria.

"Step away from Alexandria." Threatening anger boiled just under the surface of the Doctor's words. "Just know, whatever happens next, you brought it on yourselves."

Before the lead soldier could even think about raising his weapon even closer to Alexandria, he dropped the gun, letting it conk against the other around his waist. He stumbled a bit before whipping his hands to his head.

"What is this trickery?" asked one of the other soldiers who had began stumbling around the room, too.

"It's the gravitational force of this _planet_ beating itself over every inch of your bodies," scolded the Doctor. "Your skulls are being crushed inwards, your vertebrae collapsing, your muscles turning to led."

The Doctor seemed to almost enjoy telling the soldiers their fate. Alexandria, however, couldn't bare to watch anyone suffer, no matter what their crimes might be. They were still living, breathing creatures worthy of being saved simply because they existed.

The Doctor noticed the discomfort on Alexandria's face, her cowering away at the sight of the four soldiers being slowly flattened to death.

"Help us," wailed one if he soldiers.

They had all been forced to lay on the ground, squashing up against one another on the condensed floor space. Their major extremities weighed them down while their bones almost felt like they were shattering beneath them.

The Doctor looked away as the groaning and moaning tapered off. Only the leader was left conscious enough to beg for his life in his eyes.

"Save them," Alexandria whimpered softly. "Please, help them. That's what you do, right? As the Doctor, that's what you do; save the day?"

Tears welled in her eyes.

"Your stasis chambers aren't protecting you anymore," stated the Doctor coldly. "It's protection field is wearing off. There's nothing I can do while I'm tied up here."

He almost didn't make an effort to show that he didn't care. They had threatened his life and his Lexi's. They had killed their only salvation in their elder. And made it completely impossible for him to save them.

 _That's what war brought, only death and destruction_ , these words and the Silurians' danced around the Doctor's aching head.

"Do something," snapped Alexandria suddenly.

She couldn't stand to see anymore suffering.

 _Anything for you._

The Doctor broke out of his menacing thoughts to think clearer. He stared at Alexandria to concentrate better. He couldn't do anything without his sonic screwdriver which was in his suit pocket. He had to get free of these restraints somehow.

The Doctor took advantage of the regeneration energy coursing through his veins. Alexandria didn't speak again as she saw the Doctor struggle against the vice grips behind his back.

He squeezed his thumb close to his palm, and then took it even further as he tried to ram his hand out of the cuffs. He let out a long groan of pain as he meticulously broke his own hand bones to release himself from the bindings clutch. His jaw tightened to an almost piercing level of pain; teeth gritted and noises flowing from him that could only mean one thing; agony.

"Aagghh!" yelped the Doctor at last after freeing his hand.

It was red and bruised and his thumb sat in a wonky position. He cradled his left arm with his right hand.

Alexandria finally opened her eyes once the torture was over. The Doctor had purposefully gotten closer to her, not just to see the lead soldier.

"Help..." whispered the soldier below the Doctor, "us."

The Doctor pulled out the sonic with his good hand and played with it, staring at it pensively.

"There's nothing I can do now," the Doctor said as he knelt down beside the leader. "I've got my sonic, but even _you're_ too far gone to be saved."

The Doctor didn't just mean morally. The Silurians wouldn't have even lasted the time it would take for him to get his TARDIS to save them.

"Here's some advice from another old man," the Doctor whispered to the soldier quietly enough so only the creature could hear him. "If you knew anything about me, you'd know, that I'm the Oncoming Storm, the bringer of darkness, and if you thought trying to get to me through the people that I _love_ was in any way a good idea, you were sorely mistaken. I used to have so much mercy. No second chances, I'm that sort of a man."

Alexandria heard snippets of what the Doctor whispered to the soldier below him; _here's some advice, if you knew... me, Oncoming Storm_ (whatever that meant), _through the people that I_ _ **love**_ _, mercy, I'm that sort of a man._ It didn't make much sense, but it almost seemed right to her. That the Doctor would be this behemoth of a man.

The Doctor meant for Alexandria to hear most of it, but not all.

The Doctor stood up and straightened his suit with just one hand, still steadying his broken hand gently by his side. He elongated his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the ground.

"I'm so sorry," the Doctor said sternly with a fire in his eyes that the soldier cowered at. "I'm so so sorry."

The Doctor continued sonicing the ground around the soldier.

"What are you doing?" asked Alexandria quietly.

"I'm draining the power to their ship that's keeping them alive," stated the Doctor with zero forgiveness in his voice. "This will speed up their declines so they don't have to suffer anymore"

Alexandria was about to protest to killing them, but understood what the Doctor was doing when he told her he was saving them.

The Doctor bowed his head once he was finished; both out of sadness for the Silurians deaths, and his own fatigue.

"Are they gone?" Alexandria asked softly.

The Doctor turned back to her with eyes filled with sorrow. His time with her was ending soon.

"Yes," he breathed.

"Can you let me out now, please?" she asked him tentatively.

"Oh, of course," the Doctor replied a bit stunned. "Sorry."

The Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at the restraints and they all unhinged themselves at once. Alexandria's feet were nonexistent under her legs. She began to topple forward when the Doctor caught her in his arms. He winced sharply at the pain in his hand. Alexandria tried to back off of him to relieve the weight of herself, but she was too unsteady. Her arms and legs were jelly. The Doctor held her tightly in his right arm; holding her up with everything he had left in him.

"I've got you," he said as strongly as he could.

Alexandria and the Doctor met with their eyes for the first time. The Doctor made sure to remember every shimmering speckle in Alexandria's emerald pools, while she was mesmerized by his deep brown forests stretching out for centuries.

Alexandria's eyes grew even wider as the Doctor's left hand began to glow with a faint golden flicker. The Doctor raised his hand to her eye level and watched, unfazed.

The Doctor gripped harder onto Alexandria in his grasp, trying with all his might not to regenerate in her arms. He breathed a sigh of relief when the glittering embers stopped at his wrist then floated away.

Alexandria's mouth hung open. She didn't even know what to think. She had no reference point to even begin imagining what had just happened. She began to slip in the Doctor's grip, and he caught her with his healed hand not a moment too soon.

The Doctor wrapped his arms slowly around Alexandria's small frame; one arm holding her shoulders and the other securing her by her waist.

There was a fraction of a second where the Doctor could've sworn he was embracing his Lexi when she rested her head against his beating chest. He was about to rest his weary head on hers when she pulled away. He shook the thoughts about her out.

Alexandria shivered at the sound she stumbled upon when trying to hold herself up; two heart beats. The madness of the day was getting to her she assumed. She pulled away from the Doctor before she lost herself too much in his scent.

The Doctor let go of Alexandria's waist with his left hand and wiggled his long fingers in front of them.

Alexandria looked stunned and forgot she still felt wobbly inside. The Doctor quickly noticed before Alexandria did that she was about to slip out of his grasp despite him firmly propping up her shoulders. Their hands flew to each other's waists at the same time.

Familiar tingles shot through the Doctor's hands at her touch; sparks of life he missed so dearly. His shields were down. A flood of emotions overwhelmed him and subsequently Alexandria, too.

Alexandria's senses overloaded; heart pounding with emotions that weren't hers.

The second she regained her bearings, Alexandria loosened her grip on the Doctor's warm, slim waist. She stuck out her hands to steady herself, but quickly retreated when the Doctor was about to hold her again. She wasn't sure she was ready to experience those feelings again that weren't hers. It made things too confusing when she had to concentrate.

"How did you...?" Alexandria started to ask.

"My species has this nifty little trick when we're gravely injured to heal ourselves," the Doctor told her.

"So you really aren't human, then?" Alexandria replied.

"Guilty," the Doctor said coyly.

A long grin stretched across the Doctor's face. Alexandria smiled back at him. They both mentally took note of how much they liked one another's smiles.

Alexandria looked behind the Doctor at the deceased aliens on the linoleum floor.

 _Because aliens are just something I believe in now, apparently._

"What are we going to do with them?" Alexandria asked curiously.

She scanned the Doctor's face. He was glaring at the wounds on her right side.

"Let's get you fixed up," the Doctor replied instead.

Alexandria couldn't imagine why this man who was supposed to be a saviour of worlds kept putting her above everything else.

The Doctor knew he couldn't do anything drastic to change their futures, but he was determined not to let Lexi suffer more than she had to; more than she inevitably would.

"Doctor, the Silurians," Alexandria pressed again. She moved to stand next to him, facing the green creatures. "We can't just leave them for anyone to find."

The Doctor sniffed and turned on his heels.

"Right." The Doctor perked up. "It'll be taken care of. I'll call in some reinforcements to handle them properly once I leave."

Since he was in the right time for it, the Doctor would send a message to the Torchwood team to clear up the mess.

Alexandria nodded. She didn't know where she was going, but she just knew she had to get out if that room. The Doctor trailed after her.

He had to make sure she didn't see the inside of the TARDIS. The first time she saw it was truly the first. He couldn't risk rewriting such a pinnacle moment in her future.

The Doctor sped up to veer Alexandria towards a gurney on the the left side of the hallway.

Alexandria couldn't help but to walk to an abandoned hospital bed against the wall.

The Doctor gestured for her to sit.

Finally, after all the chaos of the day, Alexandria began to feel at ease.

By reaching inside himself earlier and forcing the regeneration energy out to heal his hand, his regeneration was speeding up. Lexi had never seen the next Doctor, so he had to leave soon before he regenerated. He didn't have long before he would change, but he had to use the energy once more.

The Doctor reached a tentative hand to Alexandria's right shoulder. She followed his hand with her gaze. Familiar golden specks emanated from the Doctor's hand. The sparkling embers swirled around Alexandria's clavicle and healed her wound. The Doctor trailed his long fingers slowly, gently down her shoulder to her arm; his thumb caressing her just around the cut in her bicep. The wisps of glittering energy followed his hand and mended the laceration.

The Doctor made certain not to alter physiology too much. Future events had to play out as they already had. He might have given them a few more adventures together, but not enough to stop what had already happened.

Before the Doctor could retrieve his hand; Alexandria placed her hand over his. The regeneration energy extinguished itself at her touch.

"Thank you," she breathed.

The Doctor tried to smile back at her, but couldn't when a harsh groan pursed through his lips instead. He had used too much of his regeneration energy that was masking the radiation symptoms.

"What's wrong?" Alexandria asked immediately.

"I used too much if my regeneration energy," the Doctor told her; not expecting her to understand.

Alexandria hopped down from the bed. The Doctor placed his hands where she had sat. She placed a comforting hand on his arched back. His breathing got caught in his throat repeatedly. He took deeply sharp breaths.

"Might lose some of my height next time 'round," he added; turning his head to grin the best he could at her.

"Regeneration energy?" Alexandria asked; not noticing his last comment. "Is that what you used to heal your hand?"

The Doctor nodded solemnly; looking away from her. He coughed a few times before sitting down in front of Alexandria; now at her eye level.

"But you said that was to be used when you're _gravely_ injured. Are you fatally injured?" she asked hastily.

A worry-stricken look crossed Alexandria's face; heart quickening beneath her. She immediately took several calming breaths, but was still concerned.

"But, all those adventures we're supposed to have..." Alexandria trailed anxiously.

"That's still all to come for you," the Doctor tried to reassure her; searching her face for some kind of affirmation that she trusted him, or at least understood him. "It's just the beginning."

"But not for you," Alexandria stated instead of questioning.

"It was fantastic." The Doctor smiled sadly.

"What can I do?" Alexandria scanned his body for any way to help him.

"Just be _you_ ," he beamed; looking down to hide his ear-to-ear grin at his memories.

"But if I know you in my future," Alexandria started hopefully, "can't I just tell your past self not to do whatever it is that's killing you?"

"That is _so_ like you to say that," the Doctor sniffed as he picked up his shoulders and looked into her eyes. "But you _can't_ ," he began seriously. "You can't tell him any of this. Especially about my death."

Alexandria's nose went hot as tears threatened to fall at the mention of his death.

"Knowing your own death can make a person go _mad_ with trying to prevent something that's going to happen no matter what," the Doctor finished on that ominous note.

Alexandria accepted the Doctor's words with a heavy heart. She didn't know if she should miss him or be anxious to meet him.

 _It's not over for you yet,_ the Doctor's voice echoed in her head.

"Now, there's one last thing I have to do before I go," the Doctor said as he reached deep into his bigger-on-the-inside pocket.

Alexandria sniffed back warm tears and wiped her cheeks as she said, "Okay."

The Doctor pulled out a deep blue ring box and held it out in front of him. Alexandria stepped back.

"Oh, no. It's okay," the Doctor chuckled. "It's from _you_."

Alexandria still looked stunned; a million different unimaginable thoughts flying through her brain.

"It was her way of ensuring you could trust me," he explained.

The Doctor opened the ring box facing himself then held the ring between his thumb and forefinger and raised it high enough for her to see it.

Alexandria admired the simplicity of the ring; very thin yet sturdy enough not to snap. She took it when the Doctor stretched his arm out even farther to her.

She eyed the ring in her hand. Something minuscule was engraved on the inside. It was barely readable by the naked eye.

The size didn't matter to Alexandria when they were the most important words in the world to her.

Her free hand flew to her waist; almost protectively. She looked up at the Doctor's dazzling joyous face before slipping the ring onto her right ring finger. She hadn't noticed so much if him before that moment; the wanderlust in his eyes, his thin lips that looked like they could soften at a touch or harden quick enough to scare away just about anyone, and his incredibly strong jawline that seemed to carry the weight of many loses.

Without warning, but greatly welcomed, Alexandria hugged the Doctor tightly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held onto his shoulders firmly. The Doctor rested his arms instinctively around her waist. He, however, dipped his head into her hair to breathe in her scent.

The Doctor wasn't going to push the moment any further. He appreciated that he got this extra time with her; his Lexi. He got more time than anyone else ever got, and was thankful to his very core. He was also deeply saddened it was over so quickly, but he knew this day was coming and couldn't blame anyone for it.

 _One last day with your beloved. Which day would you choose?_

The Doctor suppressed another surge of pain ripping through his body. He was fortunate to be facing away from Alexandria just then so she didn't see his anguish; not just at the physical, but emotional.

He actually pulled away first. He could feel his cells starting to regenerate at the microscopic level. It wouldn't be long now before he changed completely.

 _I don't want to go._

Alexandria let the Doctor go. She followed him with her eyes as he rose from the bed. She started walking next to him when he turned to face her suddenly.

"You can't see this," the Doctor warned her. "I have to go alone."

Alexandria was confused momentarily.

"But you're dying, I want to be there for you," she told him with sad eyes.

"I know you do," he grinned automatically. "You will be. _You'll_ make my life worth living, I promise."

Giving up her pursuit to follow him, Alexandria asked, "When will I see him next?"

Alexandria chose purposefully to say "him" instead of "you" to show the Doctor she understood what was about to happen.

"Whenever you need me, I'll be there." The Doctor repeated Lexi's words to Alexandria with just as much fervency as Lexi had once used.

The Doctor left it at that. He didn't have the time or energy to explain what was going to happen next. Alexandria would find out soon enough.

He stuck his hands deep into his trouser pockets and said resolutely, "Good-bye Lexi."

Alexandria looked up at the Doctor as he bowed his head slightly. Her mind went blank all of a sudden at what to say. He was walking away down the hall with that cheeky grin of his. The Doctor fortunately stopped before he turned 'round the corner.

"Hello, Doctor," Alexandria breathed.

If it was possible, the Doctor's smile grew even wider. He didn't let Alexandria see the manic grin turn to a painful grimace.

Alexandria's cheeks warmed to a soft pink as she smirked at the Doctor. She lent her back against the gurney once he had left. She finally allowed herself to breathe deeply. She tucked her chin to her neck and grinned like she had a special secret all to herself. She took a moment to try and absorb the events of the day.

 _Aliens exist. They are here on Earth. And apparently one day, beyond all belief, I'll be traveling with one._

She breathed several sighs of relief at the fact she had a future of some kind.

Alexandria broke away from her thoughts at the sound of something wheezing to life in the distance. She followed the sound around the corner the Doctor had turned into. Her breath stopped in her throat at the sight in front of her.

A large blue police box towered over Alexandria. It faded in and out as it disappeared right in front of her shocked eyes. With mouth agape, she dared to step forward once it had vanished. She danced around the empty corridor where the box had once stood.

Giggling to herself, she realized if this was what she got with the Doctor, then she wouldn't let him out of her sight the next time they met.

 _Come what may, I can handle it._


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Finally, the long awaited 4th chapter!

 **Disclaimer:** I used some dialogue from the show that I thought worked well here. I DO NOT OWN DOCTOR WHO. ALL RIGHTS TO THE BBC.

CH. 4

Alexandria woke up the next day expecting the whole world to look entirely different to her eyes.

The clouds outside her flat window looked the same. Her room smelt the same. Even her ritual tea and toast tasted the same.

Nothing seemed to be altered in the slightest. However, everything about Alexandria's outlook on life had shifted drastically.

She started looking at everything in her life as so insignificant compared to the rest of the universe. And yet, something as simple as her toothbrush seemed more wondrous as she thought of some other girl in a far-off alien planet getting ready for work just like her.

She couldn't wait to go see it all. Her face fell as she finished brushing her teeth at the thought of the Doctors death.

 _You can't tell him any of this._

The Doctors' words rang in her head as she got dressed. She knew she probably could've told him that they had met before, that he saved her life, but for fear of him asking too many questions she decided she wouldn't tell him anything.

The next time Alexandria saw him, she couldn't say anything about his death. So much so that she would play dumb to even knowing him.

Before she put on her blouse, Alexandria peered at herself in the long mirror. She never was very fond of her body; very boring. She was fortunate to have kept her slim figure and high metabolism from her teen years. Her heart always had to work harder than normal; keeping her thinner than expected. Although she was of about average height at five foot nine, she always felt small on the inside. Always shorter or slower than other twenty-somethings.

It was her tattoo that caught her attention. In fine script letters on her right hip was a quote that all of a sudden looked bolder and brighter than ever before. Since receiving the ring from her future self, she would, from that moment on, trust the Doctor completely and forever.

However, Alexandria questioned why she did or even _should_ trust this man, this alien, so wholeheartedly. She supposed after many years of thinking her life expectancy was always going to be a short one, that when she found out she had a real future ahead of her, she had to jump at it. But how could she even trust him? Is the future ever that certain? Would a disappearing box be enough to cement her future? Was her future even her own anymore?

She couldn't help but to think of the green aliens' words. The Doctor was supposedly the destroyer of his own people. Yet, the commander had such faith in the Doctor as this saviour as well.

 _I apparently end up traveling with him, so I guess he'll prove himself to be a man I can trust._

Alexandria truly hoped the Doctor would be like the man he showed her on the day he saved her. That he would be as magnificent as the commander preached.

 _My future self better have made the right decision._

She fiddled with the new piece of jewelry on her right ring finger as she sat thoughtfully on the tube to work.

A smile beamed brightly on her face like she had the most secret of secrets.

Alexandria hoped desperately that the Doctor's past self would find her soon. She couldn't help but to look 'round every corner she could for that blue box.

A flutter of doubt crossed her mind that she might have dreamt the whole thing up when after a month had passed without even a glimpse of the Doctor. She was sort of grateful for the time she had to think of how she would act around him. She would surely find it hard to not be sad at seeing him alive. It was hard to disentangle the conflicting feelings; excitement and sorrow.

Should she completely ignore him? Would she run the risk of scaring him off and having him not want to chase after her? How could she find the right balance?

Alexandria's WPW hadn't flared up even once during her wait for the Doctor. This cemented her hope for the future even more.

 _"All those facts and figures I saw of the Doctor's life, you were never alone. All those bright and shining companions. But not anymore?"_

 _"...I suppose, in the end, they break my hearts."_

The Doctor sauntered back through the snow to the TARDIS. The smile on his face faded with every step he took. The nagging feeling of the imminent end of so many things lingered in the back of his mind. He felt this urge in the pit of his stomach to see Lexi again before their story ended.

One part of him hoped he would land further in her timeline so he could break the viscous cycle they were in. But another piece of him, the selfish part of him, the part he despised, didn't want that inevitable moment to come too soon because he could feel that his own timeline would end once hers did. He knew full well that by prolonging _the moment_ he'd been putting off, he was making Lexi suffer unnecessarily. He soon wouldn't be able to take the suspense anymore. He had to get her out of this horrible casual time loop he had trapped her in.

A causal loop is a paradox of time travel that occurs when a future event is the cause of a past event. The past event is then partly or entirely the cause of the future event, which is the past event's cause. Since a causal loop has no independent origin, it is also called a bootstrap paradox or an ontological paradox.

It's understandably very confusing, so Google it if you must.

Alexandria plopped the crying child onto her knee and gave her a big squeeze.

"It's okay," she said to the sobbing girl. "It's alright, sweetheart. Does anything hurt?"

The redheaded toddler shook her head as she sniffled back more tears.

"Did it just frighten you?" Alexandria asked softly.

The girl nodded and looked up at Alexandria with big blue eyes.

"Well you've got to pay tension when you use the bike," Alexandria told her. "You were very close to the curb. That's why you fell off, right?"

"Yes, Miss Lexi," whispered the child.

"It's okay, Maddy," smiled Alexandria. "I just don't want you to get hurt; to get an ouchy."

"Can I go play, now?" asked Maddy; a little happier after being comforted.

"Of course, just be careful if you go on the bike again," Alexandria warned her softly.

Maddy immediately walked up to another kid on the bikes and told him to be careful so they don't get an ouchy.

Alexandria beamed at that. She stood up from the miniature chair; sighing to her self.

She left the daycare around 5 o'clock that evening.

Alexandria walked out from the underground and immediately wrapped her dark gray coat around her tightly. The crisp autumn night was nearly pitch black. She considered going into her usual pub, but passed it with just a smile when she saw it was too crowded. She continued down the road instead.

Knowing the street would be dead quiet on a weekday, Alexandria crossed the road to her flat.

As a pair of incredibly bright headlights overwhelmed Alexandria's vision, two long arms wrapped themselves around her waist. A tight grip wrenched her backwards and onto something hard.

The Doctor cursed the TARDIS under his breath when he exited her. She had brought him to what felt like some random day with no significance whatsoever. He could feel it in his bones that this place was not any time after _the event_ he was trying to get pass. He always tried to steer her to the later parts of Lexi's timeline, but the TARDIS had a mind of its own.

Seeing as this day did not have much importance, the Doctor thought he'd meet Lexi in their usual meeting point.

Being a Time Lord gave the Doctor certain abilities. So all he had to do was lick his finger and stick it in the air to know it was five o'clockon a Tuesday night. The finger trick was more for show than anything else, but he had a habit of showing off that was hard to shake.

The Doctor walked into the pub across the street from Lexi's flat. She would be driving by any minute now. He squeezed uncomfortably to the back of the crammed room. He could just about see the front door. It wasn't until he sat down that he noticed why the pub was so crowded.

Apparently, a server had posted an ad for one pound pints online without the owners permission. At that moment, the owner had just arrived and was currently firing the server and not serving the already drunk football fans anymore cheap beer.

After understanding the situation within minutes from the conversations around the room due to his superior hearing, the Doctor began staring out of the front windows. He got inwardly annoyed several times when some rowdy blokes got in his line of sight.

Eventually, around five thirty, a tall woman in a dark gray p-coat with long locks of caramel brown hair passed by the pub.

The Doctor perked up at the sight of Lexi. Since she was walking, he assumed she had already parked her car in her flat. He missed the fact she was walking in the wrong direction to be coming _from_ her flat entirely. Instead of walking into the pub, Lexi had gone right passed the whole building; not even giving the Doctor one glance.

The Doctor became confused. He stood up quickly to go catch her. Before he left, he reached into his brown trench coat pocket for his sonic screwdriver. At the front door, he pointed the screwdriver behind him at the bar. All of a sudden, beer poured out of their taps at the Doctor's command. Everyone surrounding the bar stretched over the counter with their glasses to capture the free flowing alcohol.

The Doctor walked out of the pub with a sly smile. He was about to yell after Lexi, who was walking away, when his subconscious enlivened suddenly. Lexi was veering to the cross walk steadily. A taxi was inching past the line at a stop light back near the pub. Lexi was walking head down as she turned abruptly, just before the crossing. The light turned green about twenty meters away from Lexi. The taxi driver gunned it down the road as soon as Lexi stepped off of the pavement. The Doctor had already started running.

The Doctor jumped into the line of traffic to pull Lexi out of the way. He grabbed her slim waist with everything he had in him. He pulled her back into his tall frame and accidentally, with the sheer force he exerted in jerking her about, fell backwards.

The car came to an ear-splitting screech a few meters away from where Lexi would have been killed.

Alexandria tried to turn on her side and off of whatever she had landed on, but something, or someone, was holding her tightly.

Alexandria hopped up with all that she had, off of the person who caught her. She wobbled a bit on her heals as she tried to get her bearings. Before she could even begin to take in her surroundings, a tall, thin man grabbed Alexandria's arms and came close to her face.

"What were you thinking?" the lanky man questioned her sternly.

Alexandria gasped at the brown-eyed saviour; the Doctor.

"What?" Alexandria replied.

She was at a loss for words with the Doctor clutching onto her so protectively.

"Running into the road like that," the Doctor clarified. "What were you doing not looking where you were going?" he said a little pleadingly.

"It's normally a quiet road," Alexandria stammered; still a bit shaken.

"You've _got_ to be more careful," the Doctor told her sincerely.

Alexandria's mouth opened to reply, but sighed in relief when the Doctor continued on.

"But you're right," the Doctor mused as he let go of Alexandria. "This street is usually quite quiet. So." He drew out the word. "If that taxi was in such a rush, why would it come down this side street and not be on the motorway?"

The Doctor lost himself in his thoughts, not noticing the stunned look on Alexandria's face. She was thankful to see him, that he saved her, again, but was also extremely shocked that he was real; that she hadn't dreamt him up. If she had, she might have been flattened by that car.

Raw anger burned in the Doctor's blood at the thought of anyone hurting his Lexi; on accident or otherwise.

Without any explanation, the Doctor excused himself to storm off after the taxi.

"Just drive on!" the passenger yelled at the driver in the backseat of the taxi.

The Doctor bent down and tapped on the glass of the drivers window. The shaking driver slowly rolled the window down.

"I'm sorry," sputtered the driver. "I am so sorry."

The driver avoided the Doctor's piercing stare.

"Out," the Doctor ordered fiercely as he stepped back.

"What are you doing?" the man in a business suit in the backseat bellowed.

"Hush," the Doctor spat out, putting his pointer finger over his lips towards the frustrated gentleman.

The Doctor put his arm back behind his back and towered over the old driver.

"I really am sorry," the taxi driver whimpered; back against the car.

"Sorry?" the Doctor repeated irritably; teeth clenched, brows furrowed in pure rage. "You nearly ran her _over_!"

The Doctor really was trying to keep his anger in-check, but it was getting harder with every passing second. He took an incredibly deep breath with his eyes closed. He looked down at his cream coloured Converse and then at the cowering man.

"Just," the Doctor started slowly. "Just tell me why? Why were you going so fast on this quiet little street?"

The drivers eyes shifted nervously towards the back of the taxi. The Doctor glared at the old man for avoiding him. He held back his emotions momentarily to allow reason in. He saw where the driver was looking. He tried to calmly follow the mans gaze.

The Doctor looked into the backseat. The businessman was trying to speak.

"He was late," the taxi driver muttered.

The Doctor kept his harsh stare at the man in the back of the taxi.

"Late?" the Doctor hissed. "Speak."

The man found his voice and was very annoyed when he replied, "Yes, late. I'm late for my flight. It's rush hour so I told this buffoon here to take the side streets."

"So you pressure him to nearly run someone down?" the Doctor retorted.

"I didn't tell him to run _anyone_ over," the arrogant man told him. "I simply gave him a good incentive if he stepped on it."

The man had reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a hundred pound note.

"Look," the man began, "take this and we'll all forget this whole thing, eh? I've already had someone else screw up my day. I don't need anyone else making me late."

The gentleman stretched his hand out of the window and waived the money up at the Doctor.

"Is that what you did to the other person who screwed up your day?"

"What?" the man snapped surprisingly.

"Well," the Doctor started yet stayed serious. "You said another person instead of the driver, so it clearly wasn't him who made you late. Who was it in the first place? Did you try to bribe their silence, too, for _getting in your way_?"

The Doctor ended on a more furious note.

"My secretary changed my flight at the last second, for no reason whatsoever," the man explained. "And I didn't _bribe_ her. I fired her."

The Doctor continued to stare at the insolent little man. Something struck him. Something in the way the man described what his former secretary did. He didn't say, _she booked the wrong flight_ , or, _she told me the wrong time, making me late_ , or even, _she always screws up my flights_.

What the secretary had done had apparently been out of character for her. Even if she _had_ done this before, the businessman did not seem like the type of man to give many second chances. Perhaps any first chances for that matter.

There had to be something more to this. When it came to his Lexi, the Doctor concentrated more, investigated harder, and held on tighter. He couldn't let this go. Lexi did not die here. No matter what time this was for her, _this_ was not her time to die.

These thoughts flowed through the Doctor's head in an instant.

"You, out," the Doctor demanded of the irritating man.

He was still holding the money out.

The man got out saying, "What now? I really must be going."

"I'm sizing up how much I should sue you for," the Doctor said casually while reaching into the backseat and tossing out his bags.

"Sue?!" the businessman said; shocked.

The man quickly reached into his wallet to take out several more hundred pound notes.

"No," the Doctor scoffed. "Just keeping you distracted enough was all."

The disgruntled passenger looked around him, suddenly realizing his belongings were strewn across the road; the suitcase having been popped open on its collision with the tar mat.

"What are you..." the man began baffledly.

"I'll take that," the Doctor said confidently as he swooped in to take the five hundred pounds from the sniveling little man.

The Doctor held the money out to the driver and said, "Go on. Take it and go. We need to have a little _chat_ anyways."

The driver looked puzzled but pleased as he hastily got back in his taxi and drove off, after taking the money of course.

The infuriated man yelled after the car.

The Doctor needed to confirm his suspicions so he asked the irritating man, "I take it she has never done this before?"

"What?" snapped the man, turning on his heals to face the Doctor.

The man was only a few inches shorter than the Doctor, but he might as well have been an ant compared to the Doctor.

"Your secretary. Has she ever done something like this before?" the Doctor asked casually; his hands deep into his trouser pockets.

"Oh, I don't know," the man waved off. "Sarah did her job just fine until this disastrous screw up."

"How long did she work for you?" the Doctor continued.

"Four years," the businessman replied; still fuming as he paced around the road.

"And you just up and let her go over one mistake?" the Doctor asked astonishingly.

The Doctor thought this over. He assumed the man must not have really payed much attention to his secretary's work ethic and yet he kept her around for years. The Doctor understood just then. He chose his words intentionally.

"And what is she like?" the Doctor asked curiously. The man stopped and stared at him. The Doctor raised an eyebrow and said, "Might be looking for an assistant myself."

"You can have her," the man scoffed. "She's very tall, with legs up to here," he raised a hand to his chest. "Long blonde hair, with the tightest as-"

"I meant," the Doctor cut him off abruptly. "I meant her work ethic."

"Oh," the man said as he began to clear up his belongings. "Good, I suppose."

The Doctor rolled his eyes as he turned his head back to Lexi, who was sitting on a nearby curb.

Alexandria watched in with amusement and bewilderment at the Doctor's confrontation. She was also trying to think of what to do when he came back. She settled on thanking him and then leaving. She would, of course, hope he would follow after her. She still couldn't tell if he knew her yet.

Throughout the last month, Alexandria had thought long and hard about this whole time travel business. It was the only way she could explain it. If she was going to take the Doctor's words to heart back at the hospital, she would be meeting his previous self; i.e. time travel. She didn't know how it worked, the mechanics of it, the legitimacy of any of it, or if she was even sane anymore, but, nevertheless, it was the only explanation.

Alexandria had spent the last month trying to accept that fact. By believing in the insanity made it easier to jump between future and past tenses. She thought of it all as a fairy tale.

 _A story I sure hope will come to fruition._

What else would the Doctor be doing here of all places if not to see her?

 _You're not that important, Alexandria._

No matter if he knew her or not, Alexandria would stick to pretending not to know the Doctor.

 _For his own good._

The Doctor was walking back to Alexandria as she lifted her head up. She stood up as he got to her.

"So, here's what I found out," the Doctor started. "It had nothing to do with the taxi driver. Apparently, Mr. Richards over there," he pointed quickly to the businessman picking up his clothes of the street, "was in a hurry because his secretary changed his flight at the last minute. Which is why he nearly ran you over."

The Doctor tried his hardest to shift his anger off his face. He was still fuming inside, but had to get to the bottom of this assistant business first. Which meant he had to calm down long enough to focus. Focus on Lexi, and the strange case of the secretary. He didn't trust it to be just a coincidence that the taxi could have killed Lexi out of all the people in London.

Alexandria was instantly intrigued. However, she decided to stick to her plan.

"Thank you for saving me," Alexandria replied softly.

The Doctor couldn't help but to smile as he wrapped Alexandria in a hug before she could continue with her pretense.

 _He definitely knows me. This is going to be hard._

The Doctor moved into a familiar position, for him, around Lexi's frame. She had had time to calm down, but he knew from experience that her heart never fully slowed down properly until he came along. He placed a hand onto Lexi's coat over her chest, the way he always did. The Doctor waited patiently for Lexi to relax into him.

Alexandria, however, didn't reciprocate the movement. She tensed under the Doctor's strange grasp. She might have known him, but the Doctor had never done _that_ before; whatever he was doing. She felt it was an appropriate time to let him in on who she was, because she certainly did not know what this man was doing.

"And you are?" Alexandria drew out slowly.

The Doctor's hearts squeezed tightly at Alexandria's words. He let go of her reluctantly, and composed himself before she could notice.


	6. Chapter 5

CH. 5

The Doctor knew this day would come eventually. A day when his Lexi wouldn't be with him, but a younger, unfamiliar girl would take her place; Alexandria. The Doctor had to shake those irrational thoughts away, because Alexandria _was_ Lexi. She just didn't know it yet. And the Doctor had to get her there.

The Doctor truly looked at her now. Of course Alexandria wasn't his Lexi. Her hair was a little lighter and longer. Her eyes looked brighter and more innocent. Over all, she looked very inexperienced. Not only in her looks was she different, but in the way she acted and carried herself; timid and uncertain.

This was obviously the earliest the Doctor had ever seen Alexandria, and most certainly the earliest for her, too; the _first_ , in fact.

The Doctor thought hard about what to say to Alexandria. About how to approach the situation. He was far from prepared to be faced with Alexandria instead of his Lexi. He was thankful in a way, that the TARDIS had taken him to this exact point in Alexandria's timeline. She must've known that he had to save Alexandria from that taxi. Plus, he had gotten his deep seeded wish to come before that fateful event. So far in fact, Alexandria didn't even know him. He smiled internally that he had this time, more time, with her.

"Oh, sorry," the Doctor grinned manically. "I'm the Doctor."

The Doctor stuck his hands deep into his trouser pockets to keep himself from regressing back into his old habits when around his Lexi.

 _Alexandria. This is Alexandria. Be grateful._

And as if to remind him of that fact, she said, "I'm Alexandria."

Alexandria found it hard to keep the pretense, but she knew it was for his own good.

 _Can't risk the Doctor asking too much about his future._

"We should probably start with a handshake before anything else," Alexandria suggested with a small smirk.

The Doctor had lost himself in the gold flecks shimmering in Alexandria's deep green eyes. He wasn't usually this love-struck or so easily distracted, but after all they had been through, all of what _she_ would go through, he couldn't help but to bask in the gleamingly unharmed Alexandria standing so whole in front of him.

Like a light switch, the Doctor shook himself out of her trance. He took her hand and shook it gently.

"Quite right, too," the Doctor smiled coyly.

The Doctor brushed off the memory of the last time he had said those exact words.

 _How naive I was... How could I have even known what love **was** back then? I couldn't even say the three, almost magical, words to Rose on that beach. I think I always knew that those words were meant for someone else entirely. Rose is safe and with the right man; a human man. As it should be. _

The silence echoed throughout the quiet street as they both stood there under their own false pretenses.

"So, this secretary," Alexandria began as she stepped onto the pavement. "What happened, exactly?"

The Doctor beamed at Alexandria's curiosity.

"Oh, right," the Doctor nodded boldly. "Yeah, well, that arrogant businessman had a secretary who he had just fired for changing his flight for no apparent reason."

"And you don't think it's just a coincidence, do you?" Alexandria asked intriguingly.

"Coincidence isn't even a part of my vocabulary," the Doctor replied, a soft smile plastered permanently on his thin face.

"Thought not," Alexandria murmured under her breath.

"What?" the Doctor wondered as he pulled on his ear lobe.

"Nothing," Alexandria glossed over.

Alexandria looked back up at him. He wasn't much taller than her. Looking straight ahead, she could see his delicately slim lips. She noted not to dawdle over his physique just then.

 _Behave._

Alexandria spoke hastily so the Doctor wouldn't notice her slip up.

"What _do_ you think then?" she asked.

"Well." The Doctor elongated the word. Alexandria exhaled a rapid chuckle. "It made no sense as to why the secretary would up and change a preexisting flight for her boss like that. Mr. Richards was no help as to why she would do something so uncharacteristically."

The Doctor pulled out a business card from his coat pocket as he continued, "So, I got this."

Alexandria examined the small piece of paper once the Doctor had handed it to her.

"His office, I assume?" she asked casually.

"Yup," the Doctor replied, popping the "p".

"What for?" Alexandria mused, fiddling with the lawyers' business card.

"To ask her some questions, of course," the Doctor said, staring at Alexandria blankly.

"Yes, but why?" Alexandria pushed. She stared up at him. "What difference does it make?"

Alexandria caught herself before she rambled on too much. She realized she had been too casual with him. Too casual towards a supposedly total stranger.

 _Shit._

"I mean," Alexandria began as she saw the Doctor at a loss for words.

 _He obviously thinks there's something more to this car accident ordeal. But he doesn't know I know. I **shouldn't** know. _

"Are you saying there could be a bigger reason as to why the secretary did what she did?" Alexandria asked slowly.

The Doctor tried to suppress a very obvious sigh of relief.

"Oh, yes," the Doctor beamed in a very certain tone.

"Can I help?" Alexandria asked, a little too eagerly. "I just mean," she said a little more nonchalantly. "I think I deserve to know why I was almost killed."

"Of course," the Doctor agreed. "Sarah is still in Mr. Richards' office building; clearing out her stuff."

The Doctor ended on a rather bitter note. Anger was slowly creeping back up his throat.

"It's in the city centre," he continued, a little more calmer.

"Looks like its back on the tube then."

Alexandria heaved a deep sigh as she made to turn.

The Doctor made a snap decision to take Alexandria in the TARDIS. He knew she didn't know anything about him yet, but he had to start somewhere. The driving factor was mainly so she didn't have to walk all the way back into the heart of London unnecessarily. Anything he could do to minimize her suffering.

 _I'll have to do a proper scan of Alexandria in the TARDIS to see where she's at. Not sure if I'm allowed to do that, but I've just got know how she's doing. Lexi would definitely be mad if she knew I was running a medical scan on her. Lexi would say that by me knowing where Alexandria was in her timeline, I could, and would possibly, change things that would be of grave detriment to the whole entire universe. That wouldn't stop me from scanning, though._

"We could take my..." the Doctor started, but hesitated, thinking of how to describe his ship without scaring Alexandria.

"Car?" Alexandria asked as she turned back around.

Alexandria had presumed the Doctor didn't have a car, but she had to stick to character when it mattered most.

 _I mean, how do I know he_ doesn't _have a car? That big blue box could be some kind of futuristic car for all I know._

"Well, sort of," the Doctor started, cocking his head to glance behind him and scratching his jaw nervously. "Ship more like. It's a ship, technically. I've got a... Ship."

The Doctor gulped heavily at the last word.

"Like a boat?" Alexandria asked, genuinely confused now.

"Like a space... Ship," the Doctor drew out gradually.

"Hah," Alexandria chuckled once. "Did you knock your head when you saved me?"

Alexandria wasn't pretending anymore. She truly thought this man was talking nonsense. Although she had convinced herself of aliens and even time travel, hearing it out loud made it all sound so ludicrous.

"No," the Doctor replied incredulously; brows furrowed slightly.

"Come on," Alexandria scoffed. "How do you expect me to believe that you have an actual spaceship?"

 _I only ever saw the box disappear. Of course it's futuristic, but a spaceship, really? But if it can travel in time, then why not space as well?_

Alexandria took an incredibly deep breath in at the internal realization. Her mind exploded, but her face stayed placid. It was becoming all too real. Her heart rate began to gallop away.

 _I have to see it._

Her demeanor changed to one of serious determination.

The Doctor was trying to pick his words carefully as not scare her off. He didn't even notice how at that moment, if he had seen her, like really looked at her, she could've easily been mistaken for his Lexi. The passion and sheer force of will to explore the universe was written all over Alexandria's face; just like Lexi's face would soon settle into.

"I'll show you," the Doctor smirked at the same time Alexandria looked into his impossibly wondrous eyes and said, "Show me."

 **A/N: (** Disclaimer) I fully ship Ten/Rose wholeheartedly, but for the purposes of my obviously noncanon storyline, I've got to justify the Doctor's love somehow. So please don't be too upset for my undermining here of the real show. It's all just part of my storytelling. It'll all make sense, I promise!

 **Disclaimer:** I used some dialogue from the show that I thought worked well here. I DO NOT OWN DOCTOR WHO. ALL RIGHTS TO THE BBC.


End file.
